£ihtavy  of  1:he  t:heolo0ical  ^tminavy 

PRINCETON    .   NEW  JERSEY 

PRESENTED  BY 

A .    G .    Cameron,  Ph . D . 


"B^/O 


THE 


HIRELING    PREACHER 


A  SERMON  ON  JOHN  X.  13. 


BEING  AN  EFFORT  TO  TRACE  THE  REAL  DISTINCTION  BETWEEN 
THE  GOOD  MINISTER  OF  JESUS  CHRIST  AND  THE  HIRELING. 


BY  ONE   WHO  HAS  GIVEN  HIMSELF  '-CONTINUALLY  TO  PRAYER 

AND  THE  MINISTRY   OF  THE   WORD"  FOR  THESE 

LAST  EIGHTEEN  YEARS. 


15 


Demas  hath  forsaken  me,  having  loved  this  present  world. — Favl  to  Timotht. 


NEW-YORK  : 

i^UBLlSHED    FOR    THE    AUTHOR. 
1847, 


SERMON. 


"The  hireling  fleeth  because  he  is  a  hireling,  and  careth  not  for  the  sheep."— 

John  x,  13. 

Our  text  is  a  part  of  that  well-known  parable  called  the  Sheepfold, 
which  was  designed  to  illustrate  the  nature,  duties,  and  responsibilities 
of  the  gospel  ministry.  In  the  first  place  the  church  of  God  is  com- 
pared to  a  sheepfold,  where  the  sheep  are  to  find  their  greatest  comfort 
and  security.  In  the  second  place,  the  children  of  God  are  compared 
to  sheep— because  they  are  supposed  to  be  harmless,  meek,  patient, 
tame,  and  tractable.  In  the  third  place,  the  faithful  minister  of  the 
gospel  is  compared  to  a  good  shepherd— because  he  has  entered 
the  ministry  through  a  divine  call,  and  under  the  influence  of  sound 
motives,  and  the  spirit  of  sacrifice  :  "He  enteroth  in  hy  the  door"— 
because  the  Spirit  of  God  opens  his  way  into  the  hearts  of  his 
hearers  so  that  he  becomes  the  instrument  of  their  salvation  :  "  to  him 
the  porter  openeth  "—because  he  instructs  the  people,  does  not  take 
the  fat  and  fleece  without  doing  the  work  :  "  the  sheep  hear  his  voice  "— 
because  he  is  well  acquainted  with  his  people,  he  knoweth  them  byname; 
ho  acquaints  himself  with  their  spiritual  condition,  and  thus  he  is  able 
to  build  them  up  in  the  faith  :  "  he  calleth  his  own  sheep  by  name  "— 
because  he  leadeth  them  out,  does  not  lord  it  over  God's  heritage— 
because  he  goeth  before  them ;  that  is,  he  shows  a  good  example,  ex- 
plains the  depths  of  experimental  religion  :  "  the  sheep  know  his  voice, 
look  up,  and  find  their  food. 

In  the  fourth  place,  the  bad  minister,  who  enters  upon,  or  endeavors 
to  prosecute  this  calling  through  motives  of  ease,  honor,  or  avarice,  is 
here  compared  to  a  hireling  shepherd,  whose  interest  lies  in  the  fleece 
and  the  fat.  To  describe  this  character,  draw  the  distinction  between 
a  good  and  a  bad  minister,  and  remove  impressions  under  which  the 
innocent  have  suffered  in  common  with  the  guilty,  are  the  chief  designs 
of  this  discourse.  However,  before  we  undertake  to  carry  out  these 
designs  in  detail,  we  shall  ofler  the  following  thoughts  as  antecedent 

thereunto: —  _   ,  ■      ^^ 

Hire  according  to  the  usual  application  of  that  term,  implies  money; 
and  yet  there  are  other  unworthy  motives  which  influence  worldly- 
minded  ministers  besides  those  derived  merely  from  the  love  of  money. 
The  love  of  money,  though  in  many  cases  the  ruhng  passion,  is  not  so 


in  all ;  indeed,  we  are  far  from  thinking  that  its  influence,  in  this  case, 
is  as  great  as  that  of  some  other  passions.  A  desire  to  live  at  ease,  to 
provide  against  want,  to  be  distinguished  from  the  crowd,  &c.,  are  much 
greater. 

Any  one  of  these  desires  may  predominate  to  the  partial  exclusion 
of  all  the  others.  The  minister  may  sigh  for  distinction,  for  ease,  for 
a  competency,  for  fame,  for  power— either  of  these—while  money  may 
be  no  consideration  ;  and  as  a  remuneration  for  ministerial  services  may 
be  considered  sinful. 

The  man  who  is  ruled  by  any  one  of  these  desires,  manifests  a  dis- 
position similar  to  that  from  which  the  other  desires  arise  :  they  are  all 
"of  the  earth  earthy."  It  follows,  therefore,  that  he  who  has  the 
disposition,  whatever  may  be  the  modes  of  its  development,  is  virtually 
and  really  the  hireling.  Keeping  the  above  in  view  we  shall  first 
inquire, 

I.  From  what  does  the  hireling  flee  ?  John  Wesley,  in  conversing 
with  his  preachers  respecting  their  duty  to  God,  to  themselves,  and  to 
one  another,  says,  "  O  let  us  herein  foll(jw  the  example  of  St.  Paul. 
(1.)  For  our  general  business  :  "  Serving  the  Lord  with  all  humility  of 
mind.^'  (2.)  Our  special  work  :  '  Take  heed  to  yourselves  and  to  all  the 
flock.'  (3.)  Our  doctrine  :  '  Repentance  toward  God,  and  faith  in  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ.'  (4.)  The  place :  '  I  have  taught  you  publicly,  and 
from  house  to  house.'  The  object  and  manner  of  teaching :  '  I  ceased 
not  to  warn  every  one,  night  and  day,  with  tears.'  (5.)  His  innocence 
and  self-denial  herein:  'I  have  coveted  no  man's  silver  or  gold.' 
(6.)  His  patience  :  '  Neither  count  I  my  life  dear  unto  myself.'  And 
among  all  our  motives  let  these  be  ever  before  our  eyes:   (1.)  The 

church   of   God  which  he  has  purchased  with   his    own    blood. 

(2.)  '  Grievous  wolves  shall  enter :  yea,  of  yourselves  shall  men  arise 
speaking  perverse  things.'  Write  this  upon  your  hearts,  and  it  will 
do  you  more  good  than  twenty  years'  study.  Then  you  will  have  no 
time  to  spare :  you  will  have  work  enough.  Then,  likewise,  no 
preacher  will  stay  with  us  who  is  as  salt  that  has  lost  its  savor.  '  He 
'  fleeth.' "  John  Wesley  was  a  true  prophet ;  for  these  are  the  duties 
and  responsibilities  from  which  scores  have  fled,  to  take  refuge  in  posts 
or  places  where  duties  and  sacrifices  are  smaller,  and  emoluments  are 
greater — and  still  they  flee. 

L  He  fleeth  from  the  self-denial  of  his  ofiice.  "If  any  man  will 
come  after  me,"  says  Christ,  "let  him  deny  himself !"  let  him  not  live 
to  himself,  follow  his  own  desires,  or  suff'er  his  own  will  to  be  the 
rule  of  action.  Many  desire,  and  some  try  to  follow  Christ,  who  do 
it,  not  in  the  way  of  self-denial,  but  of  self-pleasing.  Now  all  that  is 
required  to  make  a  good  man  is  required  to  make  a  good  minister,  and 
-  much  more  ;  for  if  he  takes  one  step  into  the  world  his  people  will 
take  two:  he  has  both  a  personal  and  an  official  character  to  sustain. 
A  good  minister— forgetting  himself,  his  interest,  convenience,  ease, 
and  comfort— labors  for  the  welfare  and  salvation  of  others.  "  Not 
seeking  mine  own  profit,"  says  Paul,  "  but  the  profit  of  many,  that  they 
may  be  saved."  But  "  a  bad  minister,  or  a  hireling,  is  sure  to  ob- 
serve what  the  other  forgets,  and  to  forget  what  the  other  observes." 


2.  He  fleetli  from  the  labor  of  his  office.  Few  are  willing  to  admit, 
at  first  thought,  that  the  office  of  a  gospel  minister  is  one  of  labor,  owing, 
perhaps,  to  the  circumstance  that  it  is  a  labor  more  excluded  from 
public  gaze  than  that  of  other  occupations.  But,  though  it  be  laborious, 
it  does  not  necessarily  follow  that  every  professed  minister  is  a  laborer. 
Such  is  the  spirituality  that  attaches  to  the  duties  of  this  sacred  office 
that  no  man  who  is  otherwise  than  spiritually-minded  will,  or 
can  discharge  them.  As  one  of  the  holiest  and  most  faithful  ministers 
of  modern  times  has  observed,  "  To  such  this  employment  would  be 
mere  drudgery."  Hence  every  minister  who  possesses  the  characteris- 
tics of  a  hireling,  shrinks  with  instinctive  dread  from  those  toils  and 
trials  for  which  he  has  neither  capacity  nor  inclination. 

3.  He  fleeth  from  the  sacrifices  of  his  office.  It  is  a  common 
opinion  among  those  who  on  this  subject  think  superficially,  that  on 
entering  the  ministry  there  is  more  of  this  world  to  gain  than  to  lose  : 
certainly  this  was  not  the  case  when  it  was  instituted,  or  Peter  never 
would  have  said,  "  Lo,  we  have  left  all  and  followed  thee."  The  spirit 
of  the  ministry  is  truly  and  emphatically  a  spirit  of  sacrifice  :  hence, 
inspired  with  this  spirit,  the  man  of  God  leaves  all,  whatever  that  all 
may  be.  But,  alas,  what  room  still  for  the  apostolic  remark:  "All 
seek  their  own,  and  not  the  things  of  Jesus  Christ !" 

4.  He  fleeth  from  the  reproaches  of  his  office.  Evangelical  religion 
almost  as  necessarily  implies  reproach  as  an  efl'ect  does  a  cause  :  the 
same  remark  is  true  of  an  evangelical  ministry — to  such  the  reproaches 
of  Christ,  and  the  treasures  of  Egypt,  are  as  incompatible  now  as  they 
were  in  the  days  of  Moses.  They,  therefore,  who  choose  the  treasures 
of  Egypt,  or,  in  other  words,  the  wealth  and  fame  of  this  world,  must, 
from  the  nature  of  the  case,  shim  the  reproaches  of  Christ.  It  is  the 
true  minister  alone  who  can  sing, 

"  The  love  of  Christ  doth  me  constrain 
To  seek  the  wandering  souls  of  men, 
With  cries,  entreaties,  tears  to  save, 
To  snatch  them  from  a  gaping  grave, 
For  this  let  men  revile  my  name. 
No  cross  I  shun,'!  fear  no  shame." 

5.  He  fleeth  from  the  responsibilites  of  his  office.  "  When  I  say 
unto  the  wicked,  Thou  shalt  surely  die ;  and  thou  givest  him  not  warn- 
ing, nor  speakest  to  warn  the  wicked  from  his  wicked  way,  to  save  his 
life  ;  the  same  wicked  man  shall  die  in  his  iniquity ;  but  his  blood  will 
I  require  at  thy  hand"  Ezek.  iii,  18.  To  this  doctrine  the  hireling  is 
an  entire  stranger — he  is  "  not  his  brother's  keeper ;"  having  been  care- 
less about  his  own  salvation,  he  thinks  less  about  the  salvation  of 
others.  Not  being  commissioned  by  Christ,  and  never  having  been 
instrumental  in  bringing  souls  to  Christ,  he  has  no  gospel  affinity  for 
nor  interest  in  the  flock;  he  is  the  shepherd  "whose  own  the  sheep 
are  not  !" 

6.  He  fleeth  from  the  cares  and  anxieties  of  his  office.  "  He  careth 
not  for  the  sheep."  He  who  loves  the  great  Shepherd,  will  on  that 
account  love   the  sheep;   and  he  who  loves  the  sheep,  will  in  the 


6 

same  proportion  care  for  them  :  thus  the  apostle  considered  "  the  care 
of  all  the  churches"  his  greatest  burden.  But  he  who  does  not  love 
his  work  does  not  care  for  his  work ;  he  may  perform  a  certain  amount 
of  labor,  and  yet  be  careless  about  its  results;  he  may  exercise  his 
pastoral  office  over  many  souls,  and  yet  care  little  for  the  peace, 
purity,  and  growth  of  those  souls.  In  short,  he  is,  as  a  quaint  author 
says,  "  a  self-seeker,  a  time-server,  a  pleasure-taker,  an  enem.y  to  God, 
a  traducer  of  souls,  a  wolf  in  sheep's  clothing,  a  thief,  and  a  murderer, 
who  '  cometh  not  but  to  kill  and  to  destroy.'  " 

"  0  worthless  and  hapless  men,"  says  Adam  Clarke,  "better  for  you 
had  ye  never  been  born!  Vain  is  your  boast  of  apostolic  authority, 
while  ye  do  not  the  work  of  apostles.  Vain  your  boast  of  orthodoxy, 
while  ye  neither  show  nor  know  the  way  of  salvation.  Vain  your 
pretensions  to  a  divine  call,  when  ye  do  not  the  work  of  evangelists. 
The  state  of  the  most  wretched  of  the  human  race  is  enviable  com- 
pared to  that  of  such  ministers,  pastors,  teachers,  or  preachers." 

II.  Why  the  hireling  fleeth.  "  Because  he  is  a  hireling."  The 
term  hireling  is  to  be  understood  in  this  ipart  of  our  subject  as  we 
have  already  described  it ;  and  as  bad  principles  may  always  be  con- 
sidered the  origin  of  bad  practice,  when  we  see  the  one  we  may 
reasonably  anticipate  the  other.  "  What,"  says  one,  "  makes  those 
who  have  the  charge  of  souls  in  trying  times  to  betray  their  trust,  and 
in  quiet  times  not  to  mind  it  ?  What  makes  them  false,  and  trifling, 
and  self-seeking?" 

1.  Not  because  they  are  supported  by  the  flock.  Some  contend 
that  the  simple  circumstance  of  a  minister  being  supported  by  his 
people  must  necessarily  make  him  a  hireling ;  they  can  see  the  trans- 
action in  no  other  light  than  that  of  a  quid  pro  quo.  This  is  the  view 
which  it  is  supposed  the  society  of  Friends,  or  Quakers,  so  called,  take 
of  it.  The  present  race  of  Friends  do  to  a  great  extent  believe  thus, 
holding  that  no  minister  is  entitled  to  a  support  who  has  wherewith  to 
maintain  himself.  The  Friends  of  Robert  Barclay's  day  did  not  deny 
the  justice  and  propriety  of  providing  for  those  who  labored  in  the 
ministry :  they  restricted  it,  however,  to  the  time  that  the  minister  is 
actually  engaged  in  traveling  and  preaching,  so  as  to  be  entirely  taken 
from  secular  labors  ;  for  their  belief  in  a  special  inspiration  in  public 
speaking  leading  them  to  consider  all  previous  study  as  unlawful,  they 
of  course  concluded  that  no  more  time  was  occupied  in  the  ministry 
than  that  consumed  simply  in  traveling  and  preaching.  Who,  then, 
in  denying  to  the  faithful  minister  his  right,  would  shelter  themselves 
behind  this  example,  unless  they  hold  to  the  same  belief  of  a  special 
inspiration  in  public  speaking  that  has  always  distinguished  the 
Friends  ? 

2.  Not  because  they  receive  a  salary  from  the  flock.  There  are 
those  whose  consciences  are  so  exceedingly  tender  about  paying 
money  to  ministers,  and  whose  minds  are  so  discriminating  in  their 
reflections  upon  the  subject,  that  they  can  see  a  great  difl'erence  between 
the  iniquity  of  receiving  a  support,  and  that  of  receiving  a  stipulated 
sum  as  a  salary  ;  but  the  difl^erence  lies  more  in  the  sound  of  the 
fcerms  than  the  thing.     The  only  probable  difference  is,  that  a  salary 


may  be  more  than  a  support ;  and  even  this  probability  is  greatly 
weakened  from  the  fact  that  in  most  cases  it  is  loss.  But  even 
supposing  it  should  be  more  than  a  support,  who  is  more  suitable  to 
appropriate  a  surplus  than  he  who  teaches  us  "  to  do  good  and  to  com- 
municate ?"  None,  certainly.  In  fact  the  salary  of  every  ministerought 
to  enable  him  to  be  an  "example  to  his  flock"  in  hospitality  and 
benevolence  as  well  as  other  good  deeds.  So  much  negatively ;  or,  in 
other  words,  so  much  to  show  that  receiving  and  using  a  salary  do 
not  make  a  minister  a  hireling  in  the  sense  of  our  text :  it  is  not  this 
that  makes  him  flee.  He  fleeih,  as  the  text  tells  us,  "  because  he  is 
a  hireling,  and  careth  not  for  the  sheep."  The  reason  for  his  conduct 
lies  in  his  character.     The  man  acts  like  himself. 

(1.)  He  fleeth  because  he  entered  the  ministry  as  a  trade,  or  as  a 
road  to  wealth  and  honors.  Motives  of  self-interest,  influencing  men 
to  provide  for  themselves  and  family,  are  regarded  as  innocent  and 
laudable  in  the  afi^airs  of  this  life  ;  but  for  a  man  to  enter  the  Christian 
ministry,  under  the  predominance  of  such  motives,  is  a  desecration, 
and  shows  an  utter  destitution  of  those  benevolent  and  disinterested 
feelings  which  are  regarded  as  an  essential  qualification  for  a 
gospel  minister :  it  follows,  therefore,  of  necessity,  that  a  man  with 
such  motives  will  and  must  either  neglect  his  work  or  fly  from  it. 

(2.)  He  fleeth  because  a  hireling  has  not  that  interest  in,  or 
attachment  for,  the  flock  which  a  proprietor  is  supposed  to  have. 
This  is  the  principal  point  which  distinguishes  the  hireling  from  all 
faithful  ministers ;  for  if  the  bad  minister  may  be  styled  a  hireling, 
from  a  parity  of  reasoning  the  good  minister  may  be  styled  a  proprietor: 
not  because  he  is  absolute  owner,  and  disposer  of  the  flock,  but  because 
his  principles  are  analogous  to  those  that  influenced  Jesus  Christ,  that 
great  Shepherd  of  the  sheep,  who  laid  down  his  life  for  the  sheep, 
that  he  (the  good  minister)  might  know  how  to  lay  down  his  life  for 
the  brethren. 

The  hireling  feels  no  interest  in  or  attachment  for  the  flock,  because 
it  was  not  his  by  a  regular  transfer. 

"  He  was  a  wolf,  in  clothing  of  the  lamb. 
That  stole  into  the  fold  of  God,  and  on 
The  blood  of  souls,  which  he  did  sell  to  death, 
Grew  fat !" 

The  hireling  feels  no  interest  in,  or  attachment ybr,  the  flock,  because 
the  sheep  are  not  the  fruit  of  his  faith  and  prayer.  And  besides  this, 
he  knows  not  how  to  appreciate  such  fruit.  He  is  not  able  to  say, 
"  Are  ye  not  my  work  in  the  Lord  ?"  1  Cor.  ix,  1. 

The  hireling  has  no  interest  in,  or  attachment /or,  the  flock,  because 
he  has  not  those  bosvels  of  compassion  which  lead  the  good  shepherd 
to  "  gather  the  lambs  with  his  arm,  and  carry  them  in  his  bosom." 
"  The  love  of  Christ  constraineth  us  !"  Without  this  incentive  a  minis- 
ter will  tire  without  labor,  in  the  midst  of  care  be  careless,  and  flee 
when  no  man  pursueth.  It  is  not  in  such  a  man,  nor  does  it  belong  to 
such  a  man,  to  do  better. 


8 

From  the  train  of  reflection  into  which  we  have  been  led  by  the 
language  of  our  text,  the  following  conclusions  maj'^  be  drawn  : — 

First.  That,  according  to  the  appointinent  of  God,  a  gospel  minister 
may  receive  a  salary,  or  "  wages ^  from  the  church,  vnthout  being  a  hire- 
lino-  in  the  sense  of  our  text.  Nothing  can  be  more  conclusive  than  this  : 
what  God  appoints  must  be  right ;  and  although  abused  by  man,  can- 
not, on  that  account,  be  considered  wrong. 

"  Under  the  Mosaic  economy  God  enjoined  that  the  ministers  of 
religion  should  be  supported.  In  appealing  to  the  law,  it  is  not  our 
design  to  do  more  than  introduce  a  principle  which  it  recognized, 
and  which  Christ  and  the  apostles  acknowledged  to  be  of  equal  force 
under  the  gospel  economy.  Hence  Paul  said  to  the  Corinthians, 
'  Who  goetli  a  warfare  any  time  at  his  ov/n  charges  ?  who  planteth  a 
vineyard,  and  eateth  not  of  the  fruit  thereof?  or  who  feedeth  a  flock, 
and  eateth  not  of  the  milk  of  the  flock  ?  Say  I  these  things  as  a  man  ? 
or  saith  not  the  law  the  same  things  also  ?  For  it  is  written  in  the 
law  of  Moses,  Thou  shalt  not  muzzle  the  mouth  of  the  ox  that  treadeth 
out  the  corn.  Doth  God  take  care  for  oxefi  ?  Or  saith  he  it  altogether 
for  our  sakes  ?  For  our  sakes  no  doubt  this  is  written  :  that  he  that 
plougheth  should  plough  in  hope ;  and  that  he  that  thresheth  in  hope 
should  be  partaker  of  his  hope.  If  we  have  sown  unto  you  spiritual 
things,  is  it  a  great  thing  i^  we  shall  reap  your  carnal  things  ?  If 
others  be  partakers  of  this  power  over  you,  are  not  we  rather  ?  Never- 
theless we  have  not  used  this  power :  but  suffer  all  things,  lest  we 
should  hinder  the  gospel  of  Christ.  Do  ye  not  know  that  they  which 
minister  about  holy  things  live  of  the  things  of  the  temple  ?  and  they 
who  wait  at  the  ahar  are  partakers  with  the  altar?  Even  so  hath  the 
Lord  ordained  tha;  they  which  preach  the  gospel  should  live  of  the 
gospel.'  1  Cor.  ix,  7-14. 

"  It  is  enjoined  by  the  example  of  Jesus  Christ.  It  is  supposed  by 
most  persons  tha',  our  Lord  wrought  at  the  trade  of  a  carpenter 
previous  to*  his  entering  upon  the  public  ministry;  but  there  is  no 
record  of  his  using  this  occupation  or  any  other  ever  after :  he  deemed 
it  proper  to  discontinue  this  employment  from  the  time  he  was  anointed, 
by  the  Holy  Spirit,  to  preach  the  gospel  of  the  kingdom.  As  he  came 
not  '  to  be  ministered  unto,  but  to  minister,'  we  might  have  expected 
that  he  would  rather  give  than  receive  :  and  to  him  who  wrought  mira- 
cles to  meet  the  exigencies  of  the  starving  thousands  who  attended  his 
ministry,  it  had  been  easy  to  create  all  that  was  necessary  for  him  and 
his  attendant  band.  He  chose  however  to  cast  himself  on  the  liberality  of 
his  hearers,  to  live  upon  the  contributions  of  those  whom  he  was  serv- 
ing ;  for  in  additioa  to  the  entertainment  which  he  received  wherever 
he  went,  preaching  the  gospel,  certain  women  who  followed  '  ministered 
to  him  of  their  substance.'  Luke  v'm,  3.  When  he  sent  his  apostles  a 
short  excursion,  while  he  was  yet  with  them,  he  charged  them  thus : 
*  As  ye  go  preach,  saying,  The  kingdom  of  heaven  is  at  hand.  Heal  the 
sick,  cleanse  the  lepers,  raise  the  dead,  cast  out  devils,  freely  ye  have 
received,  freely  give.  Provide  neither  gold,  nor  silver,  nor  brass,  in 
your  purses  ;  nor  scrip  for  your  journey,  neither  two  coats,  neither 
shoes,  nor  yet  staves ;  for  the  workman  is  worthy  of  his  meat.''  Matt. 


X,  7-10.  Why  send  them  without  scrip  or  purse?  Why  1  Doubtless 
because  he  intended  that  those  to  whom  ihey  ministered  should  enter- 
tain and  support  them.  It  is  enjoined  also  by  apostolic  precept  and 
example.  After  the  Spirit  had  descended  on  the  day  of  Pentecost,  the 
apostles  gave  themselves  up  so  completely  to  the  work  of  the  ministry 
that  the  alms  of  the  iaithful  were  not  sufficiently  spiritual  for  their 
hands.  They  said,  therefore,  *  It  is  not  reason  that  we  should  leave 
the  word  of  God  and  serve  tables.  Wherefore,  brethren,  look  ye  out 
among  you  seven  men  of  honest  report,  full  of  the  Holy  Ghost  and 
wisdom,  whom  we  may  appoint  over  this  business.  But  we  will  give 
ourselves  continttally  to  prayer  and  the  ministry  of  the  word.''  Acts 
vi,  2-4. 

"  In  those  letters  to  the  ministers  Timothy  and  Titus,  in  which  Paul 
portrays  the  character  and  describes  the  duties  of  the  Christian  pastor, 
he  says,  '  Give  thyself  wholly  to  these  things,  that  thy  profiting  may 
appear  to  all.'  '  No  man  that  warreth  entangleth  himself  with  the 
affairs  of  this  life,  that  he  may  please  him  who  hath  chosen  him  to  be  a 
soldier.'  2  Tim.  ii,  4.  It  is  objected  that  Paul  himself  is  an  exception 
to  this  rule.  But  the  objection  admits  that  the  rule  is,  that  ministers 
should  be  supported  by  the  people  of  their  charge.  How  strange,  then, 
is  the  perversion  whicli  makes  the  exception  the  rule,  and  the  rule  an 
exception  ?  And  for  v/hat  reason  did  Paul  make  himself  an  exception 
to  that  which  he  declared  the  Lord  ordained  should  be  the  general 
practice?  Because  there  were  some,  among  the  first  churches,  who, 
being  ill-affected  to  his  person,  his  ministry,  and  doctrine,  M'ould  gladly 
have  seized  any  opportunity  to  charge  him  with  sinister  motives.  He 
determined,  therefore,  to  cut  off  all  occasion,  '  from  them  who  desire 
occasion,  that  wherein  they  glory,  they  may  be  found  even  as  we.' 
2  Cor.  xi,  12.  Who,  therefore,  can  require  their  minister  to  imitate 
the  apostle  in  thus  abstaining  to  receive  support  from  those  to  whom 
he  ministered,  without  mnking  the  unenviable  admission,  that  they  im- 
itate the  ill-disposed  persons  who  view  the  ministry  with  an  evil  eye? 
For  this  reason  our  missionaries  among  the  heathen  are  obliged,  at  first, 
to  support  themselves,  or  to  be  assisted  by  the  churches  at  home  ;  be- 
cause we  cannot  expect  idolaters  to  contribute  to  the  support  of  a 
religion,  the  truth  and  value  of  which  they  have  yet  to  learn. 

"  But,  after  all,  it  was  only  at  certain  intervals,  and  in  particular 
places,  that  Paul  labored,  v/orking  with  his  own  hands  to  minister  to 
his  wants  ;  for  we  read  most  distinctly  of  the  contributions  made  to 
his  support  by  the  disciples  of  Christ.  One  beautiful  acknowledg- 
ment of  their  liberality  may  well  suffice  :  '  In  Thessalonica,  ye  Philip- 
pians  sent  once  and  again  unto  my  necessity.  Not  because  I  desire  a 
gift ;  but  I  desire  fruit  that  may  abound  to  your  account.  But  I  have 
ail  and  abound;  I  am  full,  having  received  of  Epaphroditus  the  things 
which  were  sent  from  you,  an  odor  of  a  sweet  smell,  a  sacrifice 
acceptable,  well  pleasing  to  God  ;  but  my  God  shall  supply  all  your 
need  accordingto  his  riches  in  glory  by  Christ  Jesus.'  Phil,  iv,  16-19. 
Even  in  Corinth,  where  the  apostle  received  nothing  from  the  church 
he  served,  he  was  assisted  by  churches  at  a  distance  :  '  And  when  I 
was  present  with  you  and  wanted,  I  was  chargeable  to  no  man  ;  for  that 


10 

which  was  lacking  to  me,  the  brethren  which  came  from  Macedonia 
supplied  ;  and  in  all  things  I  have  kept  myself  from  being  burdensome 
unto  yon,  and  so  will  I  keep  myself.'  2  Cor.  xi,  9."* 

In  the  chapter  immediately  following  the  one  from  which  the  pre- 
ceding is  quoted,  he  says  :  "  I  am  become  a  fool  in  glorying ;  ye  have 
compelled  me  ;  for  I  ought  to  have  been  commended  of  you ;  for  in 
nothing  am  1  behind  the  very  chiefest  apostles,  though  I  be  nothing. 
Truly  the  signs  of  an  apostle  were  wrought  among  you,  in  all  patience, 
in  signs,  and  wonders,  and  mighty  deeds.  For  what  is  it  wherein  ye 
were  inferior  to  other  churches,  except  it  he  that  I  myself  was  not  bur- 
densome to  you?  FORGIVE  ME  THIS  WRONG !"  2  Cor.  xii,  11-13.  And 
a  wrong  it  certainly  was,  inflicted  upon  their  reputation,  in  holding 
them  up  to  the  world  as  a  church  receiving  the  services  of  a  minister 
without  yielding  him  a  support.  Their  case,  however,  was  relieved  by 
this  circumstance — what  they  lost  in  their  own  reputation  they  gained 
in  that  of  their  minister;  because  the  course  of  the  apostle  served  to 
silence  the  objections  and  inuendoes  of  his  calumniators. 

The  original  Quakers,  so  called — and*  already  referred  to,  as  differ- 
ing from  the  society  which  now  bears  that  name — delivered  this  testi- 
mony on  the  subject  in  question  :  "  We  fully  acknowledge  that  there 
is  an  obligation  upon  such  to  whom  God  sends,  or  among  whom  he 
raiseth  up  a  minister,  that,  if  need  be,  they  minister  to  his  necessities. 
Secondly.  That  it  is  lawful  for  him  to  receive  what  is  necessary  and 
convenient."  This  language,  as  we  understand  it,  teaches  the  doctrine 
that  Paul  taught,  and  that  all  evangelical  Christians  believe,  upon  this 
subject.  The  words  necessity  and  convenience,  however,  are  rather, 
convertible  terms  when  it  comes  to  money,  and  none  the  less  so  for 
being  found  in  the  vocabulary  of  a  Quaker,  so  called  ;  and,  for  aught  we 
can  see,  a  preacher,  or  even  a  preacheress,  among  Quakers,  so 
called,  might  degenerate  into  hirelings  on  the  plea  of  necessity  and  con- 
venience. 

Secondly.  We  conclude  that  a  minister  may  have  the  disposition,  or 
leading  characteristics  of  a  hireling,  vnthout  receiving  a  salary  or  a  support 
from  the  church.  This  may  seem  like  a  contradiction  in  terms — to  be 
a  hireling  without  receiving  a  hire ;  and  yet  who  does  not  discover 
that  if  a  minister  may  serve  the  church  from  secular  inducements,  he 
may  refuse  that  service  from  the  same  cause  ?  We  are  greatly  mis- 
taken in  our  estimate,  if,  in  this  day,  there  cannot  be  found  the  greater 
number  who  have  relinquished  the  active  duties  of  the  minister,  or  been 
prevented  from  beginning  them,  by  a  belter  prospect  of  worldly  gain 
from  some  other  quarter  than  can  be  found  in  the  funds  of  the  church. 
Yes,  indeed,  we  seriously  apprehend  iha'.  the  love  of  money  and  ease 
keeps  more  men  out  of  the  gospel  ministry  than  it  spoils  in  it ;  one  goes 
to  his  farm  and  another  to  his  merchandise,  and  their  ministerial  office 
becomes  a  mere  secondary  matter — its  functions  going  on  and  off  with 
their  first-day  coats.  "They  are  greedy  dogs  which  can  never  have 
enough,  and  they  are  shepherds  that  cannot  understand;  they  all  look 
to  their  ow7i  way,  every  one  for  his  gain  from,  his  quarter."  Isaiah 
Ivi,  11. 

»  See  Bennett's  Sermon  on  the  obligations  of  the  church  to  support  its  ministers. 


11 

Thirdly.  If  a  minister  may  possess  the  leading  characteristics  of  a 
hireling  with  or  loithout  a  salary  or  support,  then  ive  conclude  that  those 
ivho  are  in  the  practice  of  applying  the  opprobrious  epithet,  "  a  hireling 
priest,"  ought  to  learn  to  distinguish  between  those  who  use  the  office  well, 
and  those  who  abuse  it.  Let  a  minister  be  supported  by  a  si'ipend,  or 
salary,  and,  in  the  estimation  of  some,  there  needs  no  further  proof  I'hat 
he  is  a  hireling  ;  he  m:iy  preach  Uke  Peter,  labor  and  siiHer  like  Paul, 
have  innumerable  seals  to  his  ministry,  l;iy  down  his  life  for  the  sheep' 
and  yet  in  the  estimation  of  such  he  must  be  a  hireling.  But,  on  the 
other  hand,  a  minister  may  love  the  world,  grasp  after  the  world  nioht 
and  day,  preach  from  the  impulse  of  the  moment,  live  at  ease  in  Zion, 
let  the  people  go  quietly  to  the  devil,  but  because  he  receives  no 
salary  (and  indeed  he  deserves  none)  he  is  the  "  true  shepherd  that 
careth  for  the  sheep."  "  Wo  unto  you,  scribes  and  Pharisees,  for  ye  pay 
tithe  of  mint,  and  anise,  and  cummin,  and  have  omitted  the  weio-htier 
matters  of  the  law— judgment,  mercy,  and  faith:  ye  blind  guides, 
which  strain  at  a  gnat  and  swallow  a  camel."  Matt,  xxiii,  23,  24. 

Those  who  class  all  salaried  ministers  indiscriminately  with  hire- 
lings, try  to  tread  in  the  footsteps,  and  actually  adopt  the  phraseology, 
of  Fox,  Barclay,  Penn,  and  other  primitive  Quakers,  upon  this  subject, 
as  though  the  religious  abuses  of  their  age  and  country  were  precisely 
the  same  now:  whereas  there  can  be  no  coi^.iparisnn.  They  bore  their 
testimony  against  hirelings,  in  the  seventeenth  century,  during  a  general 
decay  of  religion,  when  the  clergy  were  supported  by  tiUies^  when 
their  salaries  were  enormous,  and  their  covetousness,  luxury,  and 
wickedness,  without  a  parallel.  But  now  we  are  near  the  middle  of  the 
nineteenth  century,  in  a  land  of  civil  and  religious  liberty,  amid  a 
glfrious  revival  of  evangelical  religion,  where  ministerial  support 
is  voluntary,  when  the  salaries  of  ministers  are  as  small  as  they  were 
then  large,  and  when  luxury  in  the  iamily  of  a  minister  may  be  con- 
sidered an  anomaly.  'J'he  testimony  of  Fox,  Barclay,  Penn,  and  others, 
may  have  done  well  in  England  during  the  reign  of  Charles  the  Second, 
and  his  contemporary  Cromwell  ;  but  if  those  valiant  men  were  living 
now  they  would  see  more  to  approve  than  condemn,  and  we  are  con- 
fidently of  opinion,  if  many  of  their  followers  understood  their  principles 
better,  they  would  know  better  how  those  principles  should  be 
applied. 

Fourthly.  As  our  Lord  has  said,  "  Beware  of  false  prophets  which 
come  to  you  in  sheep's  clothing,  but  inwardly  they  are  ravening  wolves,  ye 
shall  know  them  by  their  fruits,"  we  conclude  that  the  whole  affair  is  nar- 
rowed down  to  this  : — who  has  the  best  fruit  ? 

1.  How  will  those  gospel  ministers  who  gain  their  subsistence  from 
some  secular  calling  compare  in  ability  with  those  who  are  supported 
by  the  church  ?  Observation  could  answer  this  question  with  an  array 
of  facts  which  no  one  could  gainsay ;  but  common  sense  could  give 
the  answer  if  observation  were  silent ;  for,  in  the  nature  of  things,  a  man 
can  better  qualify  himself  for  one  pursuit,  than  for  two  ;  especially  if 
those  pursuits  are  utterly  wanting  in  affinity,  as  is  preaching  the  gospel 
and  merchandising,  farming,  the  practice  of  physic,  or  law,  or  any  other 
"  affair  of  this  life  ;"  they  are  all  entangling.     The  head  is  liable  to  be 


12 

filled  with  schemes  for  gain,  the  best  affections  of  the  heart  paralyzed 
with  covetoiisness,  and  the  apostolic  precept,  "  Study  to  show  thyself 
approved  unto  God,  a  workman  that  needeih  not  to  be  ashamed,  righily 
dividing  the  word  of  truth,"  (2  '^I'im.  ii,  15,)  lost  in  the  jingle  of  dollars 
and  cents. 

There  is  nothing  in  the  nature  and  workings  of  this  high  and  holy 
calling  more  apparent  than  this  : — he  that  devotes  himself  to  it  should 
be  a  man  of  one  work.  God  has  evidently  so  ordered  it ;  and  attempts 
to  divide  the  time,  or  mind,  or  heart  of  any  man,  between  two  callings, 
especially  those  which  are  adverse  in  their  natures,  is  met  and  mocked 
by  failure  in  the  duties  and  obligations  of  one  or  the  other.  So  that 
the  remark,  "  He  is  a  good  farmer,  a  good  mechanic,  a  good  merchant, 
&c.,  but  he  is  a  poor  preacher,"  is  an  illustration  of  what  we  consider  a 
self-evident  truth.  "  I  am  astonished  at  thee,"  said  a  Quaker  preacher,  so 
called,  to  one  who  had  departed  from  the  "  testimony  of  Friends,"  touch- 
ing hirelings,  "  that  thou  shouldest  pay  thy  money  to  support  hirelings  ! 
I  would  as  soon  think  of  taking  ray  neighbor's  money  from  his  pocket,  as 
to  take  money  for  preaching."  "  It  would  be  as  bad  in  thee,"  was  the 
reply,  "  but  in  the  case  of  a  man  called  and  qualified  it  is  perfectly 
correct."  The  same  man,  and  we  are  under  the  impression  at  the 
same  time,  boasted  that  all  his  reading  was  confined  to  the  Bible,  the 
economy  of  human  life,  and  the  village  newspaper.  Although  a 
boast,  it  would  seem  to  have  sounded  well,  because  the  Bible  was  in  it; 
and  yet  not  so  well  either,  if  by  the  Bible  he  meant  a  secondary  rule  of 
faith  and  practice. 

But  another  and  by  no  means  an  uncommon  result,  in  trying  to  unite 
the  service  of  tables  and  the  ministry  of  the  word,  is  to  fail  in  both. 
The  mind  being  kept  in  a  state  ofvacilkincy — application,  constancy,  and 
perseverance,  are  out  of  the  question  :  the  two  pursuits  entrenching  alter- 
nately upon  each  other,  they  are,  in  fact,  devoured  one  of  another. 

2.  what  have  they  done  in  the  cause  of  evangelization  who  have 
been  carrying  on  a  crusade  for  two  centuries  against  those  they  are 
pleased  to  denominate  hirelings  ?  In  addition  to  the  flood  of  light  shed 
upon  the  world  respecting  those  wicked  men  called  hireling  priests, 
that  is,  salaried  ministers,  they  have  taught,  in  a  singular  and  mystical 
phraseology,  what  the  church  of  Christ  had  never  before  learned. 
First,  that  the  Holy  Scriptures  are  not  the  "  adequate  primary  rule  of 
faith  and  manners,"  "  but  a  secondary  rule  ;"  "  the  Spirit  is  the  first 
and  principal  leader  ;"  thus  making  the  Spirit  our  rule,  and  not  the 
sacred  Scriptures.  Secondly.  That  all  forms  of  prayer,  singing 
psalms  or  hymns,  preaching  and  praying  at  set  limes,  are  superstitious 
and  abominably  idolatrous.  Thirdly.  That  "silence  is  a  principal 
part  of  God's  worship ;  that  is,  men's  silting  silently  together,  ceasing 
from  all  outward  forms — from  their  own  words  and  actings,  in  the  natu- 
ral will  and  comprehension,  and  feeling  after  the  inward  seed  of  life." 
Fourthly.  That  "  the  breaking  of  bread  by  Christ  was  but  a  figure, 
and  ceases  in  such  as  have  obtained  the  subtance,"  theieby  making 
void  the  very  words  of  our  Lord. 

They  have  borne  a  steady  and  uniform  testimony  against  those 
wicked  things  called  steeple  houses  ;  against  the  use  of  titles,  such  as 
sir,  your  honor,  most  noble,  the  reverend,  &c.     Also  against  kneeling, 


13 

prostrating  or  bowing  the  body,  or  uncovering  the  head  to  men,  using 
the  plural,  you,  instead  ol  the  singular,  thee  ;  against  too  many  buttons 
on  the  coat;  its  cut,  color,  &c,  &c.  ^ 

The  thing  in  which  they  appear  to  have  failed  most  signally,  was  in 
se  ting  forth  clearly  and  lorcibly  the  doctrines  of  repcnt.lcejauh,  and 
hobness;  and  in  this  respect  they  failed  m  the  firft  instance,  not  so 

Z^I^Jnl  "T\      "TT  '"  P'"'^^^''^^  ^^^^«^'  ^«  ^  consecutive  Scrip- 
tural  understandmg  of  them  ;  and  this  was,  perhaps,  attributable  more 
to   the  Ignorance  and  errors  of  the  times  than  to  anything  else.     And 
coming  as  they  did  from  the  bosom  of  the  English  Church,  where  the 
leaven  of  Popery  was  still  hid,  (that  is,  justification  by  works,)  it  required 
a  mighty  struggle  with  self  to  escape  its  pernicious  influence-many 
never  did :  even  Barclay,  the  great  expounder  of  Quakerism,  so  called 
t a   s  under  this  imputation.     And  would  it  be  any  marvel  if  those  who' 
folow  the   theology  of  his  Apology  should   be    found    in    the   slme 
dilemma?     This  being  the  case,  what  excellence  in  word,  or   deed 
vvould  constitute  an  offset  to  this  great  fundamental  ?  in  fact,  without  it 
tnere  is  no  gospel  excellence. 

The    man    may   be    a    good,   plausible,    moral    lecturer,    who    can 
address  himself  with  force  to  the  understanding,  or  whose  eloquence 
may  fall  with  mehing  strains  upon  the  heart ;  he  may  devote  his  time, 
his  goods,  and  his  life,  to  the   service:   but  without  an   experimenta 
knowledge  of  justifying  faith  he  cannot  be  an  evangelist ;  he  canno 
preach  the  gospel,  and  gospel  fruit  cannot  follow  ;  uifidels,  skeptics 
and  formalists,  may  admire,  but  the  real  sheep  of  the  fold  will  neither 
follow  him,  nor  hear  his  vdice. 

3.  What  has  been  done  by  the  hirelings,  "  so  called '"  Or,  in  other 
words,  what  have  the  salaried  ministers  done,  in  contradistinction  to 
hose  who,  on  that  account,  condemn  them  ?  Have  they  fled  ?  have 
they  shunned  truth  or  duty  ?  We  are  far  from  pronouncing  an  unquali- 
fied  euloguim  upon  this  or  any  class  of  men,  knowing  that  most  rules 
have  then-  exceptions.  Too  many,  we  fear,  have  rendered  the  minis- 
try  a  mere  emolument,  and  some  have  reduced  it  to  a  do  wnriaht  sinecure  • 
our  object  is  rather  to  inquire  what  has  resulted  from  the  labors  of 
tnese  men  as  a  body. 

With  whom  do  we  find  in  our  own  land,  and  under  our  own  obser- 
vation,  the  most  uniform  and  efiectual  gospel  instrumentality  ?  We  micrht 
reply,  with  those  who  acknowledge  the  principle  that  "the  laborer" is 
worthy  of  his  hire  "  and  have  the  most  uniform  and  effectual  system 
for  the  support  of  their  ministers.  The  men  of  God  have  gone 
forth,  not  as  some  would  vainly  teach,  with  "their  own  money  "  in 
their  pockets  biit  "  without  purse  or  scrip,"  to  cast  themselves  upon  the 
providence  of  God,  and  the  solemn  obligations  of  those  whom  in  word 
and  doctrine  they  serve.  This  plan  being  founded  on  the  word,  and 
in  the  wisdom  of  God,  has  been  signally  owned  and  blessed  of  God. 
whenever  and  by  whomsoever  adopted.  Before  this  divinely-originated 
and  heaven-favored  plan  "  the  mountains  and  the  hills  have  broke  forth 
into  singing. 

Who  in  our  day  is  found  leaving  the  ninety  and  nine,  and  going  into 
the  widerness  ?— the  hireling,  "  so  called."     Who,  on  the  confines  of 


14 

civilization,  far  from  lionie  and  kindred,  declares  to  the  rude  and  uncul* 
tivated  the  unsearchable  riches  of  Christ? — the  hireling,  "so  called." 
Who  hears  from  a  distant  dreary  land  the  Macedonian  cry,  and  hastes 
responsive  to  the  call? — the  hireling,  "so  called."  Who  is  most 
active  in  producing  men  and  means  to  carry  the  gospel  to  heathen 
lands,  and  in  spreading  its  genial  influence  amid  the  withering  curse  of 
paganism  ? — the  hireling,  "  so  called." 

And  should  we  view  this  subject  in  retrospect,  what  a  long  line  of 
holy,  devoted,  self-sacrilicing,  and  useful  men  stand  up  before  us : 
whose  memory,  though  more  than  doubly  honored  for  their  labors, 
must  be  assaulted  by  the  reproaches  of  fanaticism  for  having  "  taken 
money  for  preaching ;"  or  what  is  regarded  as  the  same  thing,  for 
suffering  themselves  to  be  supported  by  a  salary.  That  great  evangelist 
of  the  last  century,  who  devoted  sixty-five  years,  out  of  eighty- 
eight,  to  the  sacred  ministry — preached  forty  thousand  sermons — gave 
away  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars — traveled  two  hundred 
and  twenty-five  thousand  miles — left  at  his  decease  nearly  one  million 
of  souls  as  the  fruit,  directly  or  indirectly,  of  his  toil,  and  declared 
with  his  lips  and  with  his  pen,  through  that  long  life,  that  if  he  died 
worth  more  than  ten  pounds  the  world  might  call  him  a  thief  and 
a  robber — I  say  that  man  falls  under  the  ban  of  this  uncompromising 
and  invincible  prejudice — he  too  was  a  hireling,  "  so  called."  Indeed 
all  the  great  evangelists  of  the  last  century  were  hirelings  ;  so  also  were 
those  bold  and  daring  spirits  of  the  sixteenth  century,  that  broke  the 
iron  yoke  of  the  Papacy,  and  brought  the  Christian  church  back  to 
first  principles  : — yes,  they  were  all  hirelings,  "so  called." 

Paul  the  apostle,  the  same,  the  identical  man  who  said  to  the 
Corinthians,  "  I  have  preached  to  you  the  gospel  of  God  freely,"  says 
also  at  the  same  time,  and  in  the  same  sentence,  "  I  robbed  other 
churches,  taking  wages  of  them."  Ah !  Paul,  how  couldst  thou 
do  so  carnal,  so  doubtful  a  thing  as  to  "take  money  for  preaching?" 
Alas  for  thee !  thy  lot  was  cast  in  an  age  when  Christianity  was  in 
its  infancy !  If  thou  hadst  lived  in  our  day  of  increased  light  and 
knowledge,  we  could  have  pointed  thee  to  men  so  spiritual,  so  refined, 
so  sublimated,  as  to  regard  the  crime  of  a  minister  in  taking  wages  from 
the  church  as  kindred  to  that  of  a  thief. 

When  the  original  twelve — Peter,  Andrew,  James,  John,  Philip, 
Bartholomew,  &c. — went  out  to  preach  the  gospel,  they  left  at  home 
their  extra  raiment,  their  scrip  of  bread,  with  their  purses  of  gold,  and 
silver,  and  brass,  because  the  mouth  that  said,  "  Freely  ye  have 
received,  freely  give,"  said  also,  "  The  laborer  is  worthy  of  his  hire." 
Luke  X,  7.  And  yet  there  was  nothing  in  the  fact  of  their  being  wor- 
thy of  a  hire,  or  receiving  a  hire,  calculated  necessarily  to  vitiate  their 
motives,  or  render  less  efl^ectual  their  toils ;  they  nevertheless  healed 
the  sick,  cleansed  the  lepers,  raised  the  dead,  cast  out  devils — and 
actually  laid  the  foundation  of  the  primitive  church. 

Thus  those  hirelings,  "  so  called,"  have  toiled  ever  since  the  day 
that  Christ  said,  "  Go  ye  into  all  the  world  and  preach  my  gospel," 
and  thus  has  God  owned  their  labors  ;  and  although  a  Judas  now  and 
then  appears,  who,  loving  neither  the  work  nor  the  wages,  soon  ceases 


15 

to  join  those  kindred  spirits,  who  from  the  same  motives  never  began  : 
we  say,  notwithstanding  all  this,  the  work  goes  on— the  hireh^ngs^ 
"  so  called,"  preach  and  pray,  souls  are  awakened  and  converted,  hell 
trembles,  the  kingdom  of  Christ  advances ;  and  the  time  is  not  far  in 
the  future  when  ye  shall  "return  and  discern  between"  the  man  who 
uses  the  office  well,  and  he  who  uses  it  ill — between  the  man  who  re- 
ceives the  salary  and  does  the  work  of  a  minister,  and  the  man  who 
refuses  both.  He  who  will  "  preach  the  word,  be  instant  in  season  and 
out  of  season,"  salary  or  no  salary,  "  serveth  Christ,  is  acceptable  to 
God,  and  approved  of  men." 

But  as  for  the  doctrine  of  preaching  from  impulse ;  which  means 
once  in  a  week,  once  a  month,  or  once  a  year,  according  as  one  may 
"feel  free  to  it ;"  and  its  kindred  doctrine,  that  of  making  the  gospel  free, 
as  some  are  pleased  to  call  it;  they  may  be  proved  from  the  "tradition 
of  the  elders,"  alias  "  the  testimony  of  (modern)  Friends,"  but  not 
from  the  word  of  God.  As  well  might  it  be  proved  that  the  gospel 
ministry  was  an  emolument  without  study,  without  pastoral  care,  or 
public  instruction. 


ICI 


